Prophet

CASE STUDY

Verra Mobility

Launching a new brand post-acquisition

Challenge

Transportation is in the midst of rapid innovation – driverless cars, disruptive technologies, mobile solutions – and American Traffic Solutions (ATS) was right in the middle of it, providing commercial fleets with tolling solutions and providing municipalities with smart traffic enforcement technologies. ATS as an organization was changing rapidly too – adding new capabilities and team members via strategic acquisitions.

With a confluence of the global mobility marketplace and the growth of ATS capabilities, all roads led to the need for a new brand and corporate story. A brand that signaled the type of company that ATS was becoming. A brand that motivated and united employees to move the world through smart mobility.

Solutions

Prophet was brought in to help ATS and its leadership to shape its corporate story and build a new brand. We began by looking at where all great brands start: the heart. Through a combination of employee and customer interviews, we sought to find out what made ATS, as well as the recently acquired brands of Highway Tolling Administration (HTA) and Euro Parking Collection (EPC), the titans of their industry. We also looked outside-in to understand where the transportation solutions category was going.

Our research uncovered that traffic solutions no longer represent what ATS truly does. So, we crafted a brand purpose to reframe the category where ATS plays – smart mobility. The result was a bold new direction for the company – one that served as a guiding light for where it was headed, and motivated employees to be a part of something bigger. Grounded by a new purpose, we turned our attention to customers – crafting a simple, yet powerful brand promise that articulated the value delivered by ATS every day: solutions that keep the world moving safely and easily.

But what would this new brand be without a new name? While American Traffic Solutions was well-known as an industry leader, a new name was needed to signal this strategic move. Enter Verra Mobility – a name that connotes truth (ver) and scale to impact the entire world (terra), while rooting the company in the fast-growing and high-valued smart mobility landscape.

The final piece of the puzzle was to solidify the brand internally. Our research revealed that one of ATS’ strongest competitive advantages was its people – people who always went the extra mile to serve customers. And with the acquisition of HTA and EPC, there was an opportunity to unite everyone under the new Verra Mobility brand. Through extensive research aimed at understanding the needs and motivations of both current and prospective employees, Prophet created a new Employee Value Proposition to build pride with Verra Mobility’s current talent, while simultaneously attracting the talent that would be needed to support the company’s new direction as a leader in smart mobility.

Results

The new Verra Mobility had a measured impact on stakeholders across the board.

For employees, the brand was introduced in June 2018 via a high-energy firm-wide meeting. The energy around the new brand was infectious, and Verra Mobility leaders have praised how the brand successfully brought all employees, both legacy and acquired, under a single purpose and compelling employer brand.

For customers, the new brand has expanded the scope of what the company can offer, creating opportunities for new partnerships and solutions to continue advancing the world of smart mobility.

For investors, the refreshed brand purpose has reshaped the company’s frame of reference to the highly valuable smart mobility sector. The brand was successfully taken public in Q3 2018 (NASDAQ: VRRM), with Verra Mobility leadership ringing the closing bell at the NASDAQ on October 18, 2018.

On April 1, 2019 – Verra Mobility’s stock reached an all-time high of $12 per share, achieving a market cap of $2.04B

CASE STUDY

Sun Life

Developing a brand story that resonates in Hong Kong

Challenge

Sun Life engaged Prophet to reposition its brand and develop a new marketing campaign that would help cut through the clutter and inspire customers to engage with Sun Life versus competitors. Sun Life couldn’t compete in terms of spending and scale, so they needed to develop a brand story that would resonate and a campaign that would stand out.

Solutions

Prophet realized that what the industry was communicating was at odds with what consumers really wanted. Insurance providers spoke about fear and the need to hedge against life’s inherent risks, whilst people hoped for bright futures for themselves and their loved ones. Prophet identified an opportunity to frame insurance as an enabler of dreams rather than a guardian against inescapable peril.

Prophet created Sun Life’s brand positioning leveraging one key insight: consumers in Hong Kong want to dream bigger and live brighter lives—and they want their financial services provider to help. To bring the positioning to life, we translated “Dare to Dream. Live a Brighter Life” into the creative concept of the #BE campaign – “Be everything you want to.” The #BE campaign expressed Sun Life’s promise, that they are here to encourage and challenge people not just to dream, but to turn their dreams into a reality. The campaign was executed across channels including television, print and at various out-of-home touchpoints including street billboards and the MTR.

Results

The new brand positioning and the #Be Campaign drove a lot of impact, increasing brand awareness among target customers and energizing the Sun Life employee and agent base to rally around a refined and inspiring brand story. It gave Sun Life the ability to target the right customers, better articulate the value of their products and deliver a consistent, engaging brand experience for agents and customers alike.

Our work with Sun Life won GOLD for ‘Best creative strategy’ at 2018 Transform Awards APAC.

CASE STUDY

Rubix

An award-winning new brand for a leading industrial powerhouse

Challenge

When American private equity firm Advent International merged French industrial supplier IPH with Brammer it marked a major consolidation in the European industrial supplies and solutions market. The combined IPH-Brammer entity presented Prophet with a critical challenge: to create a new brand for this powerhouse to stand out and reach its full market potential.

Solutions

Our team worked quickly to develop a brand strategy to support the evolved priorities and future growth of this newly merged company. Based on the defined brand positioning a name that spoke to the human approach the company adopts to problem-solving was needed, capturing this along with an essence of ingenuity, we landed on Rubix.

We then set about creating a brand identity that would differentiate Rubix from its competitors. In an industry that is widely self-referential, we used storytelling both visually and verbally to stand out from the crowd. Three key brand elements were created to achieve this; a verbal approach that explains how Rubix helps their customers, a brand colour intended to highlight their presence and reach, and a visual device that communicates how they drive their customers’ businesses forward.

Results

With the new brand and go-to-market approach in place, Rubix is uniquely positioned to transform the industry, moving beyond product to become a trusted advisor. Featuring consecutively in the prestigious Sunday Times Top Track 100 in 2018 and 2019 (a league table that ranks Britain’s top private companies with the biggest sales), the reported four percent year-over-year sales growth clearly reflects the successful path the rebranded business is on.

Prophet’s work for Rubix was also acknowledged at the Transform Europe 2020 awards, which recognises excellence in rebranding and brand strategy. Rubix scooped three awards including ‘Best Creative Strategy’ and ‘Best Corporate Rebrand Following a Merger or Acquisition.’

CASE STUDY

L’Escape

Creating a Parisian escape in the heart of Seoul

Challenge

Shinsegae Chosun Hotel Group had ambitious plans to expand its footprint in the hotel space in Korea. Increasing luxury hotel competition and continued growth in overseas travelers seeking unique, avant-garde experiences in Seoul presented an opportunity for Shinsegae to create a new hotel brand from scratch.

With renowned French designer Jacques Garcia secured for the hotel’s internal design, our challenge was to create a unique boutique hotel concept and a compelling brand strategy to drive exceptional hospitality and food & beverage experiences in a crowded space with shifting consumer expectations around luxury.

Solutions

Prophet worked closely with Shinsegae to define a winning brand portfolio that captures distinct opportunities in the Korean travel market, with clearly defined roles and relationships for each of their hospitality brands.

We began to define a distinctive hotel concept by uncovering fresh insights across three lenses: competitors, boutique differences and consumers.

  • Competitors: Through expert interviews and in-depth auditing, we uncovered key insights about the boutique hotel sector and its evolution as well as best practices of key competitors.
  • Boutique Difference: We conducted extensive research and audits across the globe to define four key elements of French style by talking to Parisian experts in fields of fashion, luxury and design.
  • Consumers: Finally, we conducted in-depth quantitative research with over 2,000 respondents across 5 countries, as well as qualitative customer interviews with experts in the luxury space, to understand what would most intrigue travelers.

The result was outstanding – we created a unique idea, hotel name and story that delivers a hospitality experience like no other: A Parisian Escape in the Heart of Seoul.

L’Escape was born.

The hotel is a hidden retreat full of surreal sophistication where moments are treasured, and memories are born. Like a bird escaping its cage, guests are free to explore intimate spaces and celebrate special moments.

L’Escape is for those who wish to get away from reality, a place that releases pleasure seekers from traditions and conventions, and liberates them to create their own dreams and fantasies. This concept is expressed through the open bird cage on the logo, leaving people to wonder where the bird has gone. The missing bird appears on other visual elements such as photography, creating a powerful juxtaposition with the logo. A color palette of gold on black and blue hints to sophistication and elegance.

We brought the brand strategy to life by creating unique yet coherent visual identities for the boutique hotel and its F&B offerings. We also developed complete branding concepts for the F&B outlets within the hotel: bar Marque d’Amour, contemporary restaurant L’Amant Secret and Chinese restaurant Palais de Chine.

Results

A unique luxury hotel experience that brings 19th Century Paris to modern Korea for the first time, L’Escape opened in July 2018 to critical acclaim. Our inspiring work with L’Escape won 2 GOLD awards at the 2018 Transform Awards APAC for best brand development and best visual identity. A judge commented, “An excellent creative concept to stand out in a crowded market. Excellent execution and sophisticated attention to detail.”

The hotel was the first independent hotel brand launched by the Shinsegae Chosun Hotel Group in the bustling shopping district of Myeong-dong. Prophet has equipped Shinsegae with a clear and unique boutique hotel concept that is new to the market and reflected throughout the hotel experience.

Since its opening, it has drawn much fanfare and traffic on its Instagram site. Its concept and story have attracted celebrity chefs and mixologists with partnerships with brands such as Mott 32 and Maison M’O. In February 2020, L’Escape was awarded an iF design awards for its website design.

CASE STUDY

Regal

Evolving an entertainment icon

Challenge

Regal Cinemas, one of the leading movie theater chains in the U.S., turned to Prophet to change its brand identity to reflect its evolving theater experience. With an ever-expanding media landscape and entertainment channels to choose from, the Regal brand needed to communicate that their theaters were ‘The Best Place to Watch a Movie’.

Solutions

Prophet created the new Regal brand to have a connection back to the Regal crown of the past but viewed from a new perspective. The seven sides of the symbol tie back to the aperture of a movie camera and can easily live around the dynamic imagery associated with movies and entertainment. With a sleek wordmark and dramatic visual elements, the system was designed to unify messaging with visual design, allowing the brand to reflect the passion and energy of the movies and legion of movie fans.

With Regal Cinema’s preeminence in the marketplace, the brand name was also truncated to only Regal, to maximize impact and brand memorability.

Results

Prophet helped envision how the brand could be activated across touchpoints from the theater façade to concessions and the digital experience. The brand program was launched in December of 2018 and will be executed in all-new theater renovations throughout 2019.

In Nov. 2019, the Prophet team won a GOLD award for ‘Best visual identity from the travel, leisure and tourism sector at the North America Transform Awards.

Five Wins at the North America Transform Awards

CASE STUDY

Major Payments Provider

Bridging global innovation gaps through digital transformation

Challenge

A major payments technology company had over many years developed a network of 10 innovation centers around the world. Each innovation center was designed and launched by leaders in different geographies and with differing capabilities, operating models and approaches to serving company account teams and their clients.

While some cross-pollination of ideas and frameworks was taking place, there was no standardized agreement on what might be necessary to drive greater value.

The company recognized that a more consistent operating model was needed, and in 2018 the company decided to move all the innovation centers under a single global leader. This new leader was tasked with driving synergies between the innovation center leaders and establishing a new, universally accepted operating model.

Solutions

The company engaged Prophet to bring the innovation leaders together to rapidly build trust among them and encourage knowledge sharing. From there they could work toward consensus on a go-forward operating model and action plan for putting it into practice.

To start the alignment process, Prophet’s team led the innovation leaders in activities that provided insight into their own preferences and motivations within the innovation process, allowing each leader to meet each other on equal footing. The subsequent knowledge-sharing activities were designed to quickly establish commonality and shared interests. The first two activities were so effective that aligning on the go-forward operating model, key areas for standardization and the action plan was remarkably straightforward.

Results

The team quickly aligned on priorities, an action plan and expectations moving forward.  The head of global innovation and design at the company said:

“Designing and delivering this kind of iconic event for a team of highly independent and experienced innovation leaders (who regularly run these kinds of events themselves for our global clients) required a firm who could confidently bring deep, demonstrated subject matter expertise in innovation, digital product development and event facilitation. I trusted the Prophet team to rapidly get us to breakthrough team dynamics and an actionable plan, and they totally delivered.”

CASE STUDY

Embarc Collective

Creating a destination for diverse startup talent

Challenge

Tampa Bay is one of the fastest-growing regions in the U.S. and has great potential to become a vital resource for innovation and technology. An innovation hub will be opened to serve as a central location to bring together startup founders, accelerators and incubators, mentors and other resources for the growth of new businesses in the region.

To ensure the success of the hub, as well as the revitalization and growth of the broader region, Prophet was asked to help build a unique brand identity, including a compelling brand story, directive brand persona and unique visual system.

Solutions

Prophet was retained to develop a new brand, name and visual system for the innovation hub. We started by conducting research to understand key success factors for startup ecosystems, touring other innovation hubs and interviewing key stakeholders. We also conducted research on the competitive landscape, aiming to understand the startup infrastructure, current unmet needs in the market and opportunities for differentiation.

The articulated brand narrative and key offerings allowed the innovation hub to take further shape and develop a sense of identity. Using Prophet’s rigorous creative and strategic process, we explored and selected a name and visual attributes for the hub. The process consisted of multiple rounds of name generation, screenings and filtering. Embarc Collective rose to the top as it perfectly represented the hub’s objectives: to be an inclusive community space for entrepreneurs and their teams to launch and build enduring businesses.

In developing the visual identity for Embarc Collective, their logo became the building blocks for the graphic system, celebrating the future-thinking mindset of the startup community. This foundation was used to inform the broader visual system, using rectangular forms to build a cohesive graphic language. The end result was a complete set of brand guidelines for the visual identity system, ensuring consistent execution of the brand across all touchpoints.

Results

Embarc Collective had a successful launch in 2019 with a distinct name, strategic approach and brand identity that differentiates them within their local Tampa Bay community.

This work received a bronze award for print collateral at the 2019 International Design Awards.

CASE STUDY

The Wharton Center

Defining brand purpose for a performing arts center

Challenge

The Wharton Center at Michigan State University (MSU) is an important asset to the Lansing community. While its well-known for providing entertainment, its purpose is elevated by its support for the performing arts in the local community. The organization brings a unique spirit to Lansing but has recently struggled to demonstrate value to its constituents. While embarking on new programs poised to improve engagement and relevance within MSU, The Wharton Center found that its brand lacked focus – it needed to redefine its role at MSU and within the greater community.

Solutions

The Wharton Center looked to Prophet to help define its purpose and better position it within the extended local community. The Prophet team found that the brand’s purpose and promise were rooted in its core beliefs and reason for existing: to inspire the mind and move the soul by sharing stories, celebrating differences and creating a community through performance and education.

To demonstrate its newly discovered and defined purpose through its visual assets and media, Prophet created a new visual identity for the brand and an implementation plan. The brand evolution focused on the concept of putting “Art at the Center” – it reflects both the variety and dimensionality of the performing arts by using a dynamic logotype. Prophet also introduced representational shapes to add a unique flavor to the graphic system. These shapes represent that performing arts are always alive, moving and evolving through music, dance and variety.

Results

The revitalized brand purpose and visual identity helped The Wharton Center define and express its role within the MSU community. Each year, the Center impacts the lives of more than 30,000 young people, to help them find courage, foster boldness and embrace diverse perspectives. The organization is committed to shaping the world through performing arts and arts education; and sharing stories of its community–of dreams, heartbreaks, struggles and triumphs– and heritage for future generations.

This work received a gold award for key art and a bronze award for print collateral at the 2019 International Design Awards.

CASE STUDY

Equality California

Helping a civil rights organization evolve

Challenge

Equality California had achieved major state policy victories but faced a fraught national political climate and persistent disparities in health and well-being. The organization needed to reframe its ongoing mission for California’s LGBTQ community, and beyond.

Solutions

Prophet helped Equality California think through fundamental questions about its purpose and brand story, helping the organization think about the strategic considerations behind ambitions such as broadening beyond California or doubling down on intersectional advocacy.

Leveraging input from a rigorous qualitative and quantitative research process, Prophet developed a 5-year plan to transform the brand. This strategy laid the groundwork for the new Equality California brand to come to life physically and digitally, through new brand identity, tagline, messaging and mission statement.

Results

Equality California’s refreshed strategy, brand identity and brand assets launched to great celebration. Its new direction set the organization on a path to become an even more inclusive, disruptive and enduring agent of change for years to come.

Impact

40%

increase in monthly Twitter impressions

27k

new members since the rebrand

CASE STUDY

Hikma

Building a brand as big as its business

Challenge

Following years of tremendous organic growth, Hikma, the multinational generics pharmaceutical company, soon realized the scale of the business had become far greater than the scale of the brand.

It had also made a number of acquisitions, but this was having a detrimental effect. Having such a fragmented brand was limiting Hikma’s brand strength and ability to build a powerful reputation as a global company among external stakeholders and employees alike.

Solutions

In a complex generics environment, Hikma needed a simple, unified brand that would help to set it apart on the global playing field. Reducing the complexity and confusion created by its current portfolio of multiple brands, Prophet worked to consolidate under one, global master brand to build consistency and drive impact.

A brand positioning was also developed: ‘Better Health Within Reach’, which successfully anchors Hikma’s core fundamental belief that good quality medicine should be available to anyone, anywhere. This has been brought to life with a differentiating digitally-enabled visual identity system that clearly signals and supports a new chapter for the business.

Results

Winner of the coveted Grand Prix at the 2019 Transform Awards Europe, along with Gold awards for Best Brand Architecture Solution and Best Brand Consolidation, the new Hikma brand is getting remarkable recognition and seeing results both inside and outside the organization.

In the six months following the new brand launch, the share price has increased by 130% – tracking well above its competitors. Not only have Prophet helped to position Hikma more prominently in the competitive marketplace, but internally the feedback from employees and leaders across the globe has been overwhelmingly positive. Pride in the company has grown, the primary benefit being the unifying sense of ‘One Hikma. One Culture,’ that has worked to bring those sites that were previously under a legacy brand or sub-brand name into the embrace of the unified Hikma family.

‘The move to a single enterprise brand, paired with the new positioning and visual identity, has been truly transformational for our company,’ commented Brooke Clarke, VP Corporate Affairs at Hikma. ‘Employee feedback from across the globe has been incredible. The new brand has created a real momentum and focus on being more connected, finding efficiencies and better ways of working together, and building our ‘One Hikma.’ It has really set us up well for the future.’

“The move to a single enterprise brand, paired with the new positioning and visual identity, has been truly transformational for our company.”

Brooke Clarke
VP Corporate Affairs at Hikma

CASE STUDY

The Water Trust

Building a brand strategy and visual identity for a unique nonprofit organization

Challenge

The Water Trust is a nonprofit organization that teams with communities in the developing world to create sustainable, effective water hygiene and sanitation systems. Their operating model educates East African communities about proper sanitation practices and empowers them by providing access to freshwater. The Water Trust envisions a world where access to water, sanitation and basic hygiene knowledge is universal. But what makes their organization unique is how they pursue their mission. We wanted to help The Water Trust build a brand strategy that mirrored not just what they provide but how they provide it, and more importantly what it means for the people they help, their staff on the ground, partner organizations and donors.

Solutions

Prophet volunteered its services and expertise to help The Water Trust clarify its distinctive brand positioning and attributes, which emphasize transparency, empowerment and delivering measurable, lasting results. The accompanying visual system was chosen to reinforce this spirit; putting water at the center while implying that it is shared, reinforcing the collaborative nature of the organization. The visual identity we developed is a clean, strong wordmark featuring a blue droplet symbol at the center, underscoring the central role that water plays in the organization’s mission. The visual system and renewed brand positioning will support the organization as it explores new technologies and geographies in the future.

Results

The launch of their new website combined with the renewed visual system will enable The Water Trust to provide better education and drive awareness about the need for clean water and sanitation in East Africa.

“As a small and growing nonprofit, first impressions matter a lot. The Water Trust brand strategy and visual system has been instrumental in getting us conversations with granting organizations we typically wouldn’t.”

Chris Prottas
Executive Director, The Water Trust

CASE STUDY

Alteon Health

Creating a customer-centric healthcare brand

Challenge

In 2017, New Mountain Capital, a private equity investment firm, brought together Emergency Medical Associates (EMA) and Island Medical Management (IMM), two U.S.-based leaders in outsourced healthcare practice management services, to create a best-in-class organization focused on delivering the highest quality healthcare. Prophet helped New Mountain Capital and IMM/EMA executives create a new brand—including the brand strategy, name and visual identity, as well as a dynamic website to act as a recruiting tool for the new organization —in only five months’ time.

Solutions

We began by articulating the brand’s strategy. The positioning needed to speak to the positive impact the integrated organization creates for its patients, physician employees and hospital customers, while reflecting its core differentiators — most importantly, the passion, loyalty and expertise of its physicians and medical professionals, as well as the use of cutting-edge data analytics to empower them to be at their best. Reflecting on these strengths, we articulated a simple, compelling positioning: “Positive Outcomes, Powered by People.”

We then translated this positioning into a new name. We explored around 1,000 name candidates across territories and styles, but one name stood out from the beginning: Alteon Health. A coined name, Alteon brings together “alta,” speaking to heights, and “eon,” which signals constant or continuous forward momentum, telling a story about the relentless passion of Alteon’s people and partners in delivering better outcomes for their patients.

Our next step was to bring the name to life visually. We created a graphic logo mark with a horizontal notch in the “A”, creating an upward arrow that reinforces the meaning of the name. We complemented this mark with a bright color palette and graphic system that uses neon concentric circles, which suggest the organization’s ongoing impact and create a device for highlighting data.

We then coupled the visual system with the brand strategy and messaging to create a dynamic website that introduces Alteon Health to the world.

Results

The Alteon Health brand launched in October of 2017, and now supports 125 hospitals and facilities in delivering high-quality medical care to more than three million patients each year. With its new brand in place to unite, inspire and galvanize its people, Alteon Health is looking to the future, continuing to find new ways to help its partners deliver better outcomes to their patients and communities, every day.

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